Most Canadian workers support equity efforts despite some backlash: report

A general view of pedestrians crossing Bay St. in the financial district in Toronto, Friday, Sept. 8, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Lahodynskyj

A majority of Canadian workers say they view equity, diversity and inclusion favourably, according to a new report, even in the face of some backlash.

The report from the Future Skills Centre and researchers at the Diversity Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University found that 54 per cent of Canadian workers view EDI favourably, while 27 per cent were neutral, and 16 per cent viewed it negatively. The survey was conducted by Environics Institute.

Workplace EDI initiatives in Canada and the U.S. have faced “intensifying scrutiny and backlash” amid policy shifts in the U.S., which have had spillover effects in Canada, the report said.

“Most Canadians do not view it (EDI) as a matter of political correctness or wokeness. They view it as an important foundation of Canadian values and culture,” said Wendy Cukier, one of the report’s authors and a professor of entrepreneurship and innovation at Toronto Metropolitan University.

“Increasingly, we’re seeing evidence that most businesses and non-profits and government organizations recognize that it’s fundamental to their success, particularly in times of disruptions.”

In January, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order putting a stop to diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the U.S. government.

Some companies have scaled back equity-related efforts as well, the report said, highlighting moves by Meta, Amazon and Target in the U.S. In Canada, the authors highlighted changes Shopify Inc. made by disbanding its dedicated diversity team and law firm McCarthy Tétrault pausing a specialized hiring program for Black and Indigenous law students.

Feminuity co-founder and CEO Sarah Saska said the current circumstances may have presented an opportunity for Canadian firms that “never wanted to be doing EDI efforts in the first place” and may have felt coerced into it after the murder of George Floyd and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, when public sentiment swung in favour of diversity and inclusion policies.

“This was just a really good excuse, the last year, to cut it out because they can just get on the bandwagon of what’s happening in the U.S. and it’s just considered more acceptable,” she said.

“But I think that works — if an organization was doing it because they’re pushed into it or it’s for the sake of optics, then they weren’t really doing anything real or meaningful anyway.”

Sarah Kaplan, a professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, said that regarding EDI efforts, Canadian corporations appear to “jump from issue to issue.”

“The challenge is that those initiatives are not always sustained,” she said.

Kaplan added that some of the backlash for EDI has come from a lack of focused attention and the idea of the “performative nature” in which initiatives have been undertaken.

The results also found that 46 per cent of workers said their employer gives EDI the correct level of attention, with 22 per cent indicating more attention is needed and 26 per cent indicated their employer pays too much attention to the issue.

Meanwhile, 47 per cent of Canadian workers indicated their employer’s EDI approach improved their own job opportunities, with 35 per cent saying it had no impact and 12 per cent saying the impact was negative.

Economic insecurity, coupled with an unsatisfactory job market, was identified as one of the main factors driving opposition to EDI, the report said. However, tariff-related trade concerns were not found to have an impact.

Cukier said the results speak to the fact that Canada’s population has “changed dramatically” and equity-related efforts are a matter of recognizing that shift and ensuring individuals are treated fairly.

She noted that women roughly account for half the population, while racialized individuals account for a quarter, and about 27 per cent of the population identify as having a disability.

Support for EDI initiatives was strong among racialized workers overall, coming in at 61 per cent, with the highest levels of support among Black, South Asian and Indigenous workers. Meanwhile, 59 per cent of LGBTQ+ individuals viewed EDI favourably.

EDI support was comparatively lower among white respondents, coming in at 50 per cent. For older white straight men, EDI support came in at 34 per cent.

Given the backlash, Cukier noted that companies should “stay the course” on continuing EDI initiatives, highlighting that Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, employment equity legislation and other foundational factors have not changed.

She noted that equity-related efforts can help companies attract talent.

“If you don’t have strong equity, diversity, and inclusion policies and practices in place you’re fishing in a very small pond,” she said.

Meanwhile, Saska recommends Canadian firms focus on impact and not get caught up in “division and polarization around acronyms or the nuts and bolts of it.”

“Get clear on, as an organization, what are the actual efforts that would make sense for our business and focus on that and then help everyone actually find a role within it and then give them the skills they need to be part of that,” she said.

Results for the report were derived based on survey answers from 5,603 individuals between March and April.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2025.

With files from The Associated Press.

Daniel Johnson, The Canadian Press